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Monday, 16 May 2011

Two months ago I handed in my notice. One month later, Seaturtle Software Ltd was hatched. I shepherded its dash to the ocean. And now I hold the reigns as it begins a journey in the vast ocean that is the international software industry.

To put it another way, I now own a software start-up.

And what a surprise that is. Three years ago I was in negotiations with my boss looking for a way to escape the slippery slide into management. Today I’m a business owner.

What changed?

Recession, and a radical restructuring changed the landscape at the company where I worked. Of all the former employees, I was the only one remaining. I stayed to make a last-ditch attempt to launch the product we’d been working on for two years. But it was not to be.

The directors and I explored several avenues for re-building the business. Eight happy and fulfilling years I’d worked for them, starting two weeks after I completed my Degree (my honeymoon occupied the interval). In that time they’ve given me fantastic opportunities to grow as a person and a software developer. I was hesitant to move on from a relationship that has blessed me so well for so long. But in the last couple of months I’ve come to realise that I have the skills to go it alone. And I’ve discovered that my taste in challenges has diversified beyond the merely technical.

Most importantly, I learned that starting and running a business is not as scary as you might think. Creating a company is just a legal formality (you can do it online for much less than £100). There are clever websites backed by smart accountants who will handle your book-keeping and tax returns for a very reasonable fee. The wonders of cloud computing provide infrastructure on demand.

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comments:

Congratulations ! Specially for the move you have taken.. I tried it once as I am purely technical person.. But I think i will revisit the idea as time permits. Note : This revising of free lancer career has two motivations 1) the "vividly colored book" and this blog post !

Hi Sam, I must say I have high respect for "free lancer" type. I personally love the consulting type of job. As I am one semester away from graduating with a degree in Management Information Systems and have interned with an IT Consultant company, CTS, and I have really enjoyed it.

All this to say:Good Luck! and I have really enjoyed reading some of your blog posts. Very informative stuff.

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